Teething Safe Wood Finishes

[steffanie3]

I am making basically two drum stick for my son's birthday. They are oak and I am wondering what kind of finish would be safe, he probably will chew on them at some point.

Thanks,
Stephanie

[auntieM]

You might consider shellac.

Good luck!

[steffanie3]

Is shellac safe for him to chew?

Where would I find it?

Thanks,

[auntieM]

I think you can find it at any hardware store. I don't know enough about it to feel comfortable telling you that it is "safe." I do know that they use it on candy to make it glossy, so at least the food grade shellac is deemed safe by the FDA. It is produced by insects, so if you don't want to use animal-derived products, it may not be your thing. DH is using it on a project that he is doing & it has produced a beautiful finish.

Here are a couple of urls (not sure if I know how to do links yet).

Best Wishes!

http://www.shellac.org/shellac.html
http://www.naturalhandyman.com/iip/a...r/shellac.shtm

[TOmomma]

I would use something that is "food-grade" e.g. designed to be in contact with food. There are finishes for wooden salad bowls and tongs, or butcher blocks. Walnut oil, certain waxes...

Lee Valley Tools in Canada has this stuff by mail order, but it would probably be easy to find something more local.

[steffanie3]

I might check out walnut oil, that is the kind of thing I was looking for. I have seen lineseed oil and mineral oil other places but I am not sure if they would be safe to teeth on.

Thanks

[Throkmorton]

Off the top of my head:
tung oil (pure, not polymer!)
walnut oil, as mentioned
beeswax


Also, you can look around for salad bowl oils to finish. Or, just go to your friendly neighborhood hardware store, and tell them you need a non-toxic food-safe finish. Some finishes may contain hardners which evaporate as the product dries, and will be safe for food surfaces according to the FDA, but I will leave that judgement up to you.

[steffanie3]

Thanks